<The essential disadvantage of the isolated pawn ... lies not in the pawn itself, but in the square in front of the pawn. <>>
~ Richard Reti

This collection shows how to take advantage of the dynamic possibilities of the isolated d pawn. If the isolani manages to advance, look out! On the other hand, if it is firmly blockaded, it tends to become a liability that leads to a lost endgame as pieces are exchanged. I find this strategic struggle utterly fascinating.

The Isolated Queen's Pawn (or as google translated it from Portugiese <the Pawn Isolated Lady> - L-O-L ) can play a dangerous role in attack, espeically when it advances to disorient the enemy army. Most games in this collection examplify this theme. However, sometimes it can be properly blockaded and eventually captured.

'Understanding Pawn play in chess' by Drazen Marovic has a nice treatment of the subject of IQP. An equally good treatment is available in 'Pawn structure chess' by Andrew Soltis

These games all reach the same IQP position after 7 complete moves. There are myriad move orders to reach the position, including lines of the following openings: Alapin Sicilian, Panov Caro-Kann, Symmetrical English, Semi-Tarrasch, Scandinavian transfer to Panov. Botvinnik believed that studying certain structures which could arise from numerous openings was a good way to prepare. The main structure which Botvinnik studied was the Panov. I don't know if this exact position was one that he studied, but it seems to be a nexus for many openings which result in IQP positions. Some examples of players who have followed the main line continuation from the nexus position most frequently on the white side are Judit Polgar and Jovan Petronic. On the black side we see the Caro-Kann adherents Anatoly Karpov, Allan Stig Rasmussen, and especially Eduard Meduna. I will cite instances where the nexus position is mentioned in books when I find them. Soltis=the book by Soltis titled Pawn Structure Chess. I don't own a database to search so I am relying on online tools. Andrzej Maciejewski v Marek Vokac, Prague 1990 is the only master game I can find which follows the Alapin Sicilian to a position which could have resulted from the nexus: 1 e4 c5 2 c3 d5 3 exd5 Nf6 4 d4 cxd4 5 cxd4 Nxd5 6 Nc3 e6 7 Nf3 Be7 8 Bd3 0-0 9 0-0 Nc6. George-Gabriel Grigore v Serban Neamtu, Romania 1992 is an example of the move order from the Slav Exchange 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 cxd5 cxd5 4 Nc3 Nc6 5 e4 Nf6 6 exd5 Nxd5 7 Nf3 e6. Here is another move order: Scandinavian, Kadas Gambit, transfer to Panov 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6 3 c4 c6 4 d4 cxd5 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 cxd5 Nxd5 7 Nf3 e6. These are the relevant ECO codes: A04, A15, A16, A17, A30, A34, A35, A40, A46, B01, B10, B13, B14, B21, B22, D02, D04, D10, D41, E10.

"Imagine the following pawn skeleton: White: pawns on a2, b2, d4, f2, g2, h2: Black: pawns on a7, b7, e6, f7, g7, h7. Despite its static weakness, the isolated pawn on d4 is filled with a certain dynamic power. We must distinguish with absolute accuracy between "static" and "dynamic" because this is the only way to understand completely. A static weakness shows up in the endgame and in two ways: firstly, the d4-pawn needs protection and, secondly, "neighbouring weak squares" show up clearly (e.g. the black king can try to get to c4 or e4 via d5). As far as dynamic strength is concerned, there is the pawn's lust to expand (d4-d5!) and in addition White can plan to leave his isolated pawn where it is and occupy one of the dynamically extremely valuable squares e5 or c5 which have been created by the d4-pawn."